Italy-based students Domenico Diego and Cristina Corradini think potholes need to be more visible, and your car's suspension probably agrees. Their "Street Safe Initiative" is a program that wants to take the transportation network / organism comparison to another level by "comparing the road surface to the human skin".
When someone gets a scrape, you see red underneath; Diego and Corradini think the same principle can be applied to roads.
"[The concept] comprises a brightly-coloured layer of asphalt a few inches beneath the surface of the road, which becomes visible when the road surface breaks up, making potholes easier to see and avoid."
The Street Safe Initiative will be tested later this year in Italy. If it proves cost effective and feasible, the program may be popping up in other European countries.
That is, unless Mike Conway has anything to say about it. As Managing Director of FM Conway (a highway-fixin'-and-buildin' company), he doesn't think it's realistic:
"It's a novel idea but it's not the right solution for the UK right now. To make layers of tarmac stick together we use a bituminous coating that acts as a glue and you'd have to go right back to the manufacturing stage and work out how to make it bright yellow. We should be looking at how to reduce costs by doing the job right in the first place, rather than creating expensive solutions that only have an effect once the pothole is already there."
Sure, doing things right the first time may be "cheaper". And "smarter". But where's the fun in that?
- By Phil Alex
